


Hold Your Breath and Count to Ten

by JustAnotherUsername



Category: Medical - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Doctors, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Medical, Romance, Slow Build, The feels, Violence, med, original - Freeform, present day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-30 21:39:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10885431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherUsername/pseuds/JustAnotherUsername
Summary: After a year of residency, I was still terrified of working at the emergency room. I mean, it always went fine once I started the shift, but I still inadvertently felt a tight knot in my stomach for days leading up to it.The thing about working in the ER is that you never know what comes up. There is no telling what the next patient is going to present with and that prospect is terrifying for a young, inexperienced doctor.This day was no different. My shift had started two hours ago but I still hadn't really settled in. It was one of those crazy days, and since General had shut down their ER for a water leak, all their cases were being diverted to us.Figures. The one day I have to be here, the other big hospital decides to load us with all their weight.I sighed as I sent Mrs. Roberts packing home with her not-so-emergency bump on the foot and walked over to the nurses' station to get a new patient. I made a quick scan of the room while I was walking, trying to estimate just how crowded we were tonight.My eyes caught sight of a commotion across the room.A man was standing with his back to me.





	1. A Long Day's Work

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting my writing so go easy on me lol. I would really appreciate it if you guys could leave any writing tips or suggestions in the comments. I will be posting regularly now so if you have a request just leave a comment letting me know. I really loved writing this first chapter and hope you guys enjoyed it to.

Chapter One

Charlie

After a year of residency, I was still terrified of working at the emergency room. I mean, it always went fine once I started the shift, but I still inadvertently felt a tight knot in my stomach for days leading up to it.  
The thing about working in the ER is that you never know what comes up. There is no telling what the next patient is going to present with and that prospect is terrifying for a young, inexperienced doctor.  
This day was no different. My shift had started two hours ago but I still hadn't really settled in. It was one of those crazy days, and since General had shut down their ER for a water leak, all their cases were being diverted to us.  
Figures. The one day I have to be here, the other big hospital decides to load us with all their weight.  
I sighed as I sent Mrs. Roberts packing home with her not-so-emergency bump on the foot and walked over to the nurses' station to get a new patient. I made a quick scan of the room while I was walking, trying to estimate just how crowded we were tonight.  
My eyes caught sight of a commotion across the room.  
A man was standing with his back to me. He was wearing a gray suit and gesturing wildly with his hands at the nurse standing in front of him. She held a chart in her hands and stared at him with a very annoyed look. She opened her mouth and said something, which only increased the man's frantic hand movements and he started yelling.  
I took a deep breath and walked over to where they were standing.  
The closer I came, the more I could hear of the argument.  
'Sir, I understand your friend is not feeling well. But you have to understand that there are other patients here who are equally…' Nurse Morgan was trying to calm him with a soothing tone.  
'Don't you dare tell me how my friend is feeling and damn as hell don't compare him to anyone else here. You people haven't even looked at him yet!' I flinched at how loud his voice was now. The volume was increasing by the minute.  
'Sir, once again, you need to calm down. As soon as a doctor is free they will look at your friend. We have done a primary evaluation of him and we have to prioritize the patients with more urgent matters first.'  
'HE IS LYING IN HIS BED AND WRITHING IN PAIN!' The man was screaming now. 'Are you people really that incompetent that you don't see the urgency in that? People put their lives in your hands, for God's sake!' He was shouting at the top of his voice now and the whole emergency room was looking in their direction.  
The nurse tried to keep her voice calm. 'He has been given pain medication and will feel better as soon as it starts to take effect. Sir, you have to trust us.'  
Silence. I focused at the back of the man's head to try to guess at his reaction. Suddenly, he broke into a manic feat of laughter. I was so startled at how loud it was that I took a step back. I looked around the room to see people give him pitiful looks at his apparent breakdown.  
I walked and stood between the man and the nurse. 'Joan, I can take this patient now.' I held out my hand towards the chart that the nurse was holding, as I decided to tackle the problem at its root.  
He grabbed the chart from Nurse Morgan's outstretched hands before I got to it.  
'I don't need another nurse to fuss over him. Get me a fucking doctor right now or I am suing this hospital's ass to…'  
I turned around to face him now. I tried to block out his ranting curses when I looked at his face. I squinted my eyes a little and studied his features. His wavy hair was a very rare shade of copper-bronze. His piercing green eyes had an odd squint in the corners; one of them was a little swollen and a hint of purple starting to form underneath the swelling. His straight nose had a hint of an upturn at the end.  
I heard him continue to curse at the hospital and the stuff and demand to see a doctor before he lit the place on fire.  
'I'm a doctor.' My voice came out almost as a whisper.  
His eyes snapped to mine and his brows furrowed.  
'You're too young to be a doctor.'  
'I'm a first year intern.' I tried to make my voice stronger.  
He huffed and looked at Nurse Morgan. 'I want a real doctor.'  
I rolled my eyes and snatched the chart out of his hand. I guessed that it was the element of surprise that left him gaping. I took a quick look at it and after I had found out some basic information, I walked over to the patient who was lying on a bed next to the crazy man and Nurse Morgan. The blond man was lying with his eyes squeezed closed and breathing carefully.  
'Hello Mr Hale. I am Dr. Novak. How are you feeling?'  
'It's getting better.' He carefully ran his hand over his abdomen.  
'Can you tell me what happened?'  
The patient's friend started to bellow before he had a chance to answer my question. 'How many times do I have to repeat the same thing! If you had been competent enough to write it down the first time then Miss Pretend Doctor here wouldn't have to be grilling him with questions again.' He pointed an accusing finger at Nurse Morgan then turned to me. 'We got into a fight with a bunch of assholes and they smashed us up!'  
'I would like to hear the answer to my question from my patient, if you don't mind.'  
'Fuck this!'  
'August, back off,' the patient, Jackson Hale's voice rang out from the bed. My head snapped in his direction and then to his friend. August. Jackson Hale's voice was weak but I could still hear clear irritation in it.  
'Fuck you Jackson. If you had just listened to me and gotten on the jet instead of coming here, we would be in LA by now and you wouldn't have to lie here while these sorry ass motherfuckers just watch you die.'  
'I'm not dying you idiot. And if you had listened to me and not gotten into a fight, I wouldn't have to step in and get my ass kicked to save yours. Now stop being such a pain and let these people do what they have to do. I'm sorry doctor…'  
'Novak.'  
'I apologise for my friend Dr. Novak. He gets a little…um…uncomfortable at hospitals. ' I heard his friend, August, snort from where he was standing.  
'So you were in a fight?...Or rather, trying to break up a fight?' I threw a disapproving look at his friend while I continued taking the patient's history.  
'Yes.'  
I lifted his gown to examine his torso for signs of trauma.  
'Can you show me where you got hit?'  
'Mostly in the stomach.'  
'Did they hit you with any hard object or was it just punches?'  
'Just fists.'  
'Ok, I will draw some blood for tests and then send you up to radiology for a CT, Mr. Hale. When you come back, a resident will take over your case. I would prefer if a more experienced doctor took a look at you since I'm relatively new to this and your injuries could be more extensive than they appear to be. I heard earlier that you were in a lot of pain? Are you still?'  
'No, August exaggerated a little. I had some pain before but not any more.'  
'That's because of the pain medicine Mr. Hale. Please stay as still as possible until your CT. A nurse will take you up to radiology shortly.'  
'We don't need a nurse. I can take him.' His friend interrupted.  
'I'm sure you can but it's hospital policy.'  
'I don't give a damn about your policies. I wasn't asking for permission. From what I have witnessed of how competent you people are, they're probably going to drop him on his ass if they try to move him.'  
'Sir, as long as your friend is my patient, I am afraid you do need my permission to move him anywhere. ' And secondly, even if they would drop him on his ass they wouldn't cause nearly as much damage as you have caused smartass, I added as an afterthought to myself.  
'I don't need some pesky little girl telling me what to do. Go get me your supervisor.'  
I almost rolled my eyes.  
'If you mean my resident, then as I have already told you, he will be taking over the case as soon as your friend comes back from radiology.'  
'August Borne, I swear to God I will throw your ass out of this hospital if you don't stop being such a pain.' Before Jackson could end his threat, my head had snapped towards his friend. His frustration and anger fell away from my sight as I noticed the pain in his face that was hidden behind it all. The purple around his eye was getting darker.  
'Would you like me to look at that for you?' I pointed to his eye.  
He glared at Jackson then me. 'I'll be dead before I let one of you ever touch me.' Then he stormed out of the room.  
o~*~*~*~*~*~o  
I took my dinner break and sat by the window at the cafeteria. I ordered a cup of tea and drank it while I saw the rain cascade down the glass on the window. That day, while sipping my cup of tea, I thought for the thousandth time about the reason I became a doctor. I thought back to my teenage years, all those days so many years ago when I had slowly and gradually fallen in love with medicine without realizing it. When I had discovered how beautiful medicine could be and how beautiful it could make the people involved in it. How it had transformed my life. How it had transformed the shy teenager who could see herself a few years down the line at the bank or supermarket in her town into a strong headed and determined fighter who had decided to make more of her life. How my parents' eyes had lit up with excitement when I had told them what I wanted to be. How they had made it their mission in life to give me the opportunities required to achieve this life that they could never even dream of. I thought about Charlie and Renee sitting up close to the stage in the large auditorium with eyes brimming with tears on the day I got my MD. I was on my way to that life. Of making a life for myself that was the dream of the teenager all those years ago.  
I worked night and day to try to be good at my job. I poured my heart into every patient I met. I went to every conference I could manage, applied for every research grant I knew of. I dreamed of securing a good residency position and one day being successful and accomplished.  
As the rain continued to pour I closed my eyes and smiled as I whispered the only thing I could say to the memories of my teen years when I had found so much meaning in life: 'Thank you.'  
o~*~*~*~*~*~o  
I smiled at the beautiful yellow daisies. By some divine stroke of inspiration I had decided to check on Jackson Hale one more time before leaving for the night that day after I had met him in the ER. The resident had thought that he was stable enough to wait for surgery for another day but some of his blood tests were still a little too unstable for my comfort. So I had done a quick exam one more time before leaving that night and discovered that his condition had deteriorated considerably. He had internal bleedings that the CT earlier hadn't caught and was taken into surgery right away. Everything had gone well and he was discharged earlier today, which is what the flowers were for.  
There was a card.  
'Dr. Novak, you saved my life. Please call me so that I can thank you properly.'  
I felt quite touched by the gesture. I was merely doing my job and the flowers were more than what was necessary. But I decided to return the kindness with the phone call Jackson Hale had requested.  
'Hello?'  
'Hi, this is Dr. Novak.'  
'Oh hi Dr. Novak! Thank you so much for calling. I really appreciate you taking the time.'  
'It's not a problem Mr. Hale. Thank you for the flowers. They were beautiful but highly unnecessary.'  
'Dr. Novak, if you hadn't come back that night to check on me…'  
'Someone else would have.' I cut him off before he could give me all the credit. Seriously, jeez, all I did was check on a patient.  
'No, they wouldn't Dr. Novak and you know that. I was supposed to be resting and they would only have checked on me in the morning. I know very well that you went out of your way to do that. You didn't need to.'  
'Mr. Hale, it's no big deal. Really. My patients are my responsibility and if I have doubts about the treatment I will always go out of my way to make sure they are ok.'  
'Your kindness meant my life that night Dr. Novak.'  
I sighed deeply. 'It really is not that big of a deal Mr. Hale. I'm glad you're doing ok. Now please stay out of trouble so I don't have to see you in the ER again.'  
'I will. I can't promise for my idiot friend though. And if he gets into trouble I will have no choice but to intervene.'  
Ok, so his friend had a knack for getting into trouble. No, I hadn't guessed that at all.  
'Must be tough having a friend who insists on putting you in harms way through no fault of your own.'  
´You have no idea. By the way, I'm sorry Dr. Novak. He was quite harsh to you that day. But I would just like you to know that it wasn't meant personally…he just has a thing against doctors.'  
'Really? I didn't get that from him at all.' I rolled my eyes at his statement of the obvious.  
He chuckled lightly and then there was radio silence for a few moments.  
'Um…Dr. Novak, would you please let me take you to dinner or something? To make it up to you for unleashing my untamed beast of a best friend on you? And to say thank you?'  
Oh, here we go again.  
'Mr. Hale, really, you have nothing to…' He cut me off.  
'Please. My wife will have my head if I don't. She was on her way here to do it herself, but I figured you are a petite woman and would possibly need to be hospitalized after one of her boulder-crushing hugs. If you think about it, you are really doing yourself a favor if you let me do this.'  
I sighed.  
'Please Dr. Novak.'  
'Ok, ok, jeez. Stop pleading, it's not like you are asking me for my kidney or something. I would love to go to dinner. But on the condition that it will only be for the purpose of making up for unleashing the beast. Get over the thank you business.'  
He chuckled again. 'Deal.'  
'Secondly, promise me that I really am safe from this boulder-crushing hug business, because quite honestly, that's kind of scary.'  
Now he laughed. 'Oh you have no idea Dr. Novak. That woman is a force of nature.'  
I laughed at his words and the love that dripped out of his voice at the mention of his wife.  
'Thirdly, for God's sake, if we are going to dinner the least you can do is stop being so formal. Please call me Charlie.'  
'Does that mean you will call me Jackson?'  
'Unless you prefer Jack?'  
'Please God no. That's what Alice calls me when she's trying to butter me up into doing something that I really really don't want to be doing.'  
'Alrighty then, Jackie it is.'  
He laughed loud.  
'How does tomorrow at 7 work for you?'  
'Great. Meet me outside the hospital entrance?'  
'Sure.'  
And that is how I found myself walking towards the main entrance to meet Jackson Hale for dinner the next day. Added to my natural talent for not being able to say no to people, Jackson Hale's insistence had made it very difficult for me to turn him down. In the past 24 hours I had gone back and forth a thousand times in my mind about doing this but finally, my curiosity had won the better of me.  
Jackson Hale brought me to an upscale Italian restaurant where the waiters pulled out our chairs and I was afraid to move too much in case I broke something. It was strange, but we had chattered away on the way here like old friends. Jackson and I had somehow clicked very easily and his easy going and kind demeanor made me feel very comfortable in his presence. He told me about his wife Alice and his work at the Borne family business back in LA, where they were from. I told him about working at the hospital, my parents back in Jacksonville, the usual.  
We both ordered pasta and sipped wine while we continued our chattering.  
'Really?' My eyes were wide as saucers at Jackson's recent revelation. He laughed heartily.  
'You met in high school?'  
He nodded. 'Is that so strange?'  
'No, not strange, just not very common…these days.'  
He smiled. 'I know. Very few high school romances make it through college, let alone marriage. But Alice and I…well, to be honest she really didn't have a choice. I would have jumped off a cliff if she refused to marry me.'  
'My parents met in high school too.'  
'Oh?'  
'Yeah, but their reasons for getting married were different.' I pointed at myself as I said this.  
Jackson looked confused.  
'Ron knocked up Renee.'  
'I see. But they're still together?'  
'Yeah. And freakishly happy in spite of being forced into getting married due to the existence of evil spawn.'  
'Good for them. Not letting the evil spawn form a crack in their love.' He winked.  
'You know Jackson, for a guy, you seem very optimistic about the notion love. Alice must be one hell of a woman.'  
'Oh, she really is. I hope you two can meet someday.'  
'I'd love to-' his phone went off before I could finish my answer. He excused himself and answered the phone.  
'Hey…I'm at Tortellini. How'd it go?...Mmhmm…Calm down, August. It's fine. We can have another meeting with them before we fly back…Yeah yeah, you're hungry, but yelling at the Japanese clients isn't going to help that situation. Just order room service as soon as you get back to the hotel…Um …' Jackson looked at me with cautious eyes. 'I don't know if that's a very good idea. I can eat with you again when I get back…No you dumbass, of course not…August, for the love of God…Hold on a minute…' He sighed and covered the phone with one hand before continuing. 'Is it alright if August joins us for dinner? He has a thing against eating alone.'  
'Um…ok.' Jackson seemed to have missed the fact that his friend might have a bigger thing against eating with me. But what else would I say, seriously. No, I don't want your jerk of a friend to join us for dinner even though you have been so kind to me all evening.  
August Borne arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes later wearing a black suit this time. His face, which was impatient when he first walked in the door, had turned into a glare when he saw me sit across from Jackson. I watched as he gathered up energy to mask his face behind an emotionless expression as he walked to our table.  
'You didn't tell me you were with…' He said to Jackson and flicked his eyes towards me to show what he meant. No 'hi', nothing.  
'August, I told you yesterday that I was meeting Charlotte for dinner.' Jackson glared at him.  
'No you didn't.' He spat.  
'Yes I did.'  
'I would have remembered that Jackson.'  
'Well, one of these days if you start paying attention to me when I talk maybe you will pick up on things like that.'  
'Whatever.' He grabbed a chair and slumped down on it. Then he gestured to a waiter and scared the poor guy to death while he ordered a steak with very specific requirements. I stared in amazement at how one man could scare another so effectively while asking him to bring him food.  
Once he was done ordering he pulled out a packet of cigarettes and started to light one when I noticed the look of utter fright on the waiter's face at what he had to say next.  
The waiter almost whispered. 'Sir, this is a non-smoking restaurant.'  
August Borne looked up at the waiter with a cigarette between his lips and one of his hands holding the lighter flame close to the cigarette while the other one was cupped around the flame. He gave the waiter a long hard look. 'You're fucking kidding me right?' He mumbled with the unlit cigarette still between his lips.  
'No Sir. My apologies if this causes you any inconvenience.' The waiter rushed out his words.  
August Borne now turned the force of his glare towards Jackson. 'Why did you pick a fucking non-smoking place?'  
Jackson huffed in irritation. 'Because that wasn't a problem until you decided to invite yourself to my and Charlotte's dinner.' I noticed that he emphasized my name, as a way of trying to get his friend to acknowledge my presence somehow.  
'Well, sorry for crashing your fucking party.' He took out the cigarette from his mouth and threw it on the table.  
Jackson slapped his hands on the table. 'Alright, that's it. August, Charlotteis my guest today and you can either behave and show my friend some respect or you can leave and you and I can have a talk when I get back to the hotel.'  
August Borne gave me a disgusted look and murmured, 'Fine.'  
'Fine what?'  
'Fine Jackson.' He gave Jackson a look that said 'don't push it'.  
'Perhaps you can start by saying hello to her. God, August. The girl's going to think we were brought up in a barn or something.'  
August glared at Jackson while the next word came out of his mouth. 'Hi.'  
I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or something, so I didn't know if I was supposed to respond. I opted to remain quiet. Which was a bad decision because now his glare turned towards me and he waited expectantly.  
'Hi, Mr. Borne. Nice to see you again.' My voice sounded totally unaffected by what had been happening until now as it came out all calm and collected.  
August Borne looked once at Jackson then turned his head to look out the window.  
Jackson asked me about how it was living in Seattle, I assumed to deflect the conversation from our not so pleasant exchange, and I focused on answering him. August Borne didn't speak again for the next hour or so as we dined. He kept his eyes focused on his plate or out the window the whole time while Jackson and I resumed our early chattering. He grimaced once or twice at something one of us would say but otherwise seemed to be blocking us out for most of the time.  
Our conversation ultimately turned to the events of the night when Jackson had come in to the hospital and he told me about how his pain had escalated after he was moved to a ward but he had thought it was normal so hadn't complained about it. I asked him how he had been feeling since he was discharged and he told me he had been feeling fine. I was telling him how glad I was to hear that when I felt an intense pair of eyes on me.  
August Borne was looking right at me with very intense eyes. It seemed like there was an internal battle going inside him and finally he closed his eyes for a moment as he apparently made up his mind about something. He took a deep breath.  
'You saved Jackson's life. Thank you.' Jackson stopped his fork halfway on its course to his mouth and stared at his friend for a few seconds.  
'It's not a big deal.' I shrugged and gave Jackson a smile.  
'It is to us.' He spat.  
'Of course. That's not what I meant. I meant that you don't need to thank me. It's my job.'  
'Yeah, I know it's your job and that's why you did it. But for the rest of us, Jackson's life actually means something. So take the fucking thank you and be happy.'  
'Um, what August means,' Jackson gave his friend a warning look before turning to me and continuing, ' …is that since you help so many people every day, it probably doesn't feel like such a big thing to you Charlotte, but it was a big deal. And you actually went out of your way to take care of me even though some of us caused havoc at that place that night.' He gave his friend an accusing look at the end.  
'Yeah, tell me about it. I'm surprised there were any windows left in that hospital.' I regretted the words even as I spoke them. I really couldn't tell you where they came from. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was all the jerkiness that August Borne had been throwing at me all this time. My inner snarkiness, that I had been suppressing until now had peeked out from nowhere.  
'Excuse me?' His voice was eerily calm. I looked up at him to see that he looked like an angry tiger that someone had just challenged to a duel. Yup, I was that someone.  
I looked at Jackson who shook his head minutely to warn me. I figured I'd already challenged the freaking tiger then I might as well go down as a man. So to speak.  
'You heard me Mr. Borne. Wouldn't you agree that it was highly unnecessary to smash your fists through the window at Radiology because they made you wait a few minutes?'  
He leaned back on his chair and smirked.  
'I think your board of directors would disagree with you regarding the necessity of my actions considering the new wing I have donated to that godawful shithole as a compensation.'  
'You think you can compensate for your aggression towards hospital property with money? You don't see the lack of morals there?' I could hear the condescension in my tone but didn't really care at that point.  
'That's big talk coming from someone who chose a profession that builds on making money off of people's misery and sickness.'  
My ears burnt with fury at his words.  
'If that's your opinion of the medical profession then I am sorry for you. You are a lost case August Borne.' I spat the words at him and decided that I had to leave before I caused more damage. He had demeaned the one thing that was of the most value to me in life.  
'Jackson, thank you for the meal. It was a pleasure spending time with you. I'll call you before you fly off ok?'  
With that I left the restaurant. I had tried, but August Borne was too much of an asshole to deserve any of my sympathy at that moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two 

Charlie 

My life in Seattle was hectic. I worked full days and took on many shifts at nights. I commuted across the city to go between my apartment and the hospital every day. It left very little time over for things like buying food and cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. I spent my days off catching up on those things. I missed my parents being nearby. They would occasionally stock my fridge or do my laundry when I was too busy to do so myself, back when I used to live closer to them. However, my main reason for missing my parents was not just their help with household chores.I was lonely. I had moved to a new city by myself a year ago and didn't really know anyone here. Add to that my endless hours at the hospital, I had very little time to make friends. I occasionally went out with people from the hospital but that was it. Most of the time I was too busy to notice the loneliness too much. But on my days off, when I was cleaning the apartment or cooking or doing grocery shopping I missed having someone to talk to.I talked to my parents on the phone whenever I had time in the evenings. It was nice to hear Renee complain about Charlie's lack of exercise or his incessant fishing while Charlie grunted in the background. It was comforting to hear the sounds of my parents' voices and it made me feel less like I was by myself in this world full of people.I also spoke occasionally to Jackson and Alice. After Jackson had returned to LA, Alice had called me to thank me herself and she and I had clicked even better than Jackson and I had. She had the same sense of easy going and honest attitude as Jackson, and it was easy to see why they loved each other so much. In the past few months, I became quite close to the two of them. They called me from time to time on my days off and the conversations always ultimately ended up in me rolling on the floor laughing while Alice chewed Jackson's head about something while he teased her mercilessly. There was never a dull moment while talking to those two. I had a feeling that they knew I was lonely and so they extended their friendship to me, which I gladly took.Which is why, when I got the opportunity to do my Cardiology rotation in LA, I took it. It was an eight week rotation and I could have stayed in Seattle and done the rotation there, but there were way too many positive things about the other option. It would be nice with a change of location for a while, especially to the sunny warmth of California as opposed to the constant rains in Seattle. The hospital in LA was a high ranked one, which would do wonders for my CV. And finally, it would be nice to get to meet Alice and spend some time with her and Jackson.The only problem was, of course, that Jackson and Alice didn't come on their own. They came with complications. And considering my last run in with the complications hadn't gone too well, I was unsure of whether this was such a good idea any more. Of course, there was a part of me that wanted to try to resolve things with August Borne so that I could get to know the Bornes as well as the Hales. But I had already proved to myself that night at the restaurant that my patience, regardless of how much of it I always thought I had, ultimately ran short in front of the mammoth amount of crap August Borne threw at me.I would have been fine with it if he had just ignored me and let me be, but he was adamant on making me feel just how much he hated me, and his ill-mannered behavior was hard to ignore when it was all focused on me.Jackson had apologized to me for his friend the day after the dinner and neither of us had really mentioned him ever since. Alice would occasionally mention going over the Bornes but that was about it. I think they both understood that I didn't want to talk about the Bornes and so they kept that part of their lives away from me.I had finally decided that August Borne's bad manners were not worth throwing away such a nice opportunity. I knew that I would eventually end up running into the Bornes if I was seeing Jackson and Alice, but I decided to face that battle when I came to it.And so, I smiled as widely as my face could take when I stepped out of the plane at LAX and was met by the warm California air. I felt the breeze in my hair and inhaled deeply. My doubts from earlier about making this decision disappeared as everything about being here felt right to me: the sun, the warmth, the sky. Also, the air of this city didn't feel as strange to me as Seattle did. There were people here who I knew and who knew me. People who cared about me and whom I cared deeply about. I smiled to myself and tried to contain my excitement as I made my way to baggage claim.After I had retrieved my bags I spotted the line of cabs outside and was making my way to them when I heard the shriek.'Charlotte!'I barely had time to turn towards the direction the voice was coming from before someone crashed into me and crushed my ribs as their arms squeezed me. Hard. The boulder crushing hug, ladies and gentlemen.I wrapped my arms around her and laughed.'Hi Alice! What are you doing here, you crazy woman?'She stopped squeezing me and pulled back but still kept her hands on my arms.'Picking you up, silly. You didn't really think I'd let you take a cab, did you?' She said the word 'cab' like it was some deadly tropical disease.'What's wrong with taking a cab?''They are dirty'. She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I raised my eyebrows.'Just the fact that I have to tell you that shows how much I have to teach you, Charlotte.' She shook her head disapprovingly and I smirked because she was actually serious. Her face went back to an excited expression again.'I can't believe you're here! Finally! You don't know how many times I've been begging Jack to take me to Seattle to see you.''Well, what can I say Alice. I got tired of waiting for your slow asses to show up so I decided to invade California instead.' Her face changed into a soft expression now.'I'm glad you're here.'I gave her a wide smile.'Now let's get going before Jack gets a ticket for parking by the gates for too long.' She grabbed hold of one of my bags and led us outside. Right outside the gates, Jackson stood outside a red Porsche that must have cost more than all my student loans combined.His face broke into a wide grin as he saw us approaching and he walked up to us and gave me a hug.'Nice to see you again, Dr. Novak.' He tipped his head a little to the front.'Likewise Mr. Hale.' I returned.'Oh my god you two, stop being such dorks and let's get going already. Charlottemust be tired out of her mind after her flight.' Alice started pushing us towards the Porsche. o~*~*~*~*~*~o A week had passed since I had arrived. Jackson and Alice had met with me almost every day helping me settle in and showing me my way around the city. It had been a hectic and crazy week, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd had so much fun. The two of them would mostly pick me up after work and take me shopping for necessary things for my apartment – I had rented a furnished apartment for my eight weeks here, which Alice had helped me find. Afterwards, we went out for dinner and or went to Alice and Jackson's place to hang out.One thing I had learned about Alice in the past few months was that she had a hard time taking a 'no' from people. I had felt a hint of that during our phone conversations, but this had become a universal truth to me since I had arrived in LA. It was like the woman had a filter in her head that just sifted the word out when someone said it to her: 'Alice, I don't want that really expensive looking whisk for my kitchen' – I sighed as I caught glimpse of the shiny silver whisk in my kitchen drawer the next day – 'Alice, please don't pack all that food for me to take home.' – I was eating Alice's lemon chicken for lunch the next day – 'Alice, don't come to pick me up, I'll come to you guys.' – sure enough, she was the first person I saw when I stepped out of the hospital.Needless to say, I was a little surprised when she had given in so easily when I declined her invitation for thanksgiving a few days ago. I had considered her acceptance of my 'no' a small blessing from God and decided to not draw too much attention to it. Sure enough, she had shown up at my door on Thanksgiving Day to drag me out.I was quite startled when my doorbell rang. As soon as I had opened the door my eyes were wide with shock at seeing them there.'Pack a bag and doing it now. Or I will do it for you.' Alice threatened and walked past me into the apartment. I looked to Jackson who held up his hands in surrender. 'It's all Alice.'Obviously, the last thing I wanted to do was spend Thanksgiving by myself. The temporary move to LA had caused a massive hit on my finances and so, going to my parents only to fly back the day after didn't seem very smart at this point. I had actually secretly been hoping that Alice and Jackson would want to spend thanksgiving with me, but that was before she had told me that they always spend it with the 'whole' family – that is, together with the Bornes. Apparently, their relation to the Bornes was more than just Jackson and August Borne's friendship. Since Alice and Jackson were both orphans and Jackson had been practically brought up by August Borne's father, they celebrated all holidays with the Bornes. In fact, Alice told me that the last week was the least amount of time they hadspent at the Bornes' place since they were spending time with me instead. Apparently, August Borne's father had missed them and had requested my presence at thanksgiving together with them.'Look it's a family thing. I really don't want to impose.' I tried really hard to get Alice to see my point of view in this.'Don't be ridiculous, Charlotte. You wouldn't impose. Believe me, Cameron wouldn't invite you if he didn't mean it.''Alice, it's really very nice of you guys to think of me. But I really don't feel comfortable crashing someone's thanksgiving dinner like this.' I looked to Jackson for help who now smiled apologetically and shrugged.'I understand it feels weird Charlotte. But it would really mean a lot to us if you would come.' Traitor, I thought and gave him a glare.Alice huffed a little in frustration. 'To be honest, I am a little offended. Just the fact that you believed we would leave you by yourself for thanksgiving! My god, Charlotte. Does our friendship really mean that little to you?'I looked at Alice then Jackson then back at Alice. Ok, so apparently the woman wasn't above guilting me. And it was starting to work. I started to feel bad. They had driven all this way just to come and get me. These two had been the kindest people that I had met in many years. They had given me so much love in a short amount of time and I was grateful for every moment they spent with me that I didn't have to spend alone. As uncomfortable as this evening was going to make me, I couldn't find it in me to turn them away from my door empty handed. I sighed in defeat.'Are you sure it's alright with Mr. Borne though?''Of course it is. Cameron is really excited to meet you.''No, um, I meant his son.' I looked at Jackson whose eyes tightened in understanding and he opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Alice.'No one cares what August thinks.' She said with a wave of her hand. I stared at how easily she dismissed him. She saw the look on my face and continued.'Look, I know that he acted like a jackass with you in Seattle. The only thing I can say is, it's nothing personal. He's like that with almost everyone. There's nothing we can do about his asshole-like-tendencies anyways, believe me I have tried.' She widened her eyes to let me see the truth in her words before continuing.'So just do what the rest of us do. Ignore him. Now look Charlotte, every year these guys make me slave away making thanksgiving dinner and I was hoping that this year you would be by my side and we could spend some quality time together and bond while we cooked together. I will be damned if I let August and his scrawny ass come in the way of that.'Before I had a chance to say anything she was already dragging me up from the couch and led me into my bedroom to pack. She stood back for a few minutes watching me pack until she huffed in frustration and asked if she could do so herself. Apparently I was taking too long and she had a meal for a whole army to prepare. I wasn't really comfortable letting her go through my stuff and pick out my clothes, but she looked quite desperate by this point and I didn't want to risk finding out what pushing that would unleash.I went back out to the living room where Jackson was lounging. He patted the couch beside him and I went over to join him.'Why exactly do I have to spend the night there?''It's a bit of a drive to get there. We will all be stuffed like the turkey after dinner…driving all the way back to town would be tiring and seems unnecessary.'I saw the reasoning in that. And I also saw that there was no point to starting an argument with Alice about me taking a cab back. So I sighed, loud.'It's going to be alright. I promise.' He told me in a serious voice.'Yeah? You will protect me from the claws of the beast this time when I show up at his den?'He smiled sadly. 'Can I just ask you for one thing? Just…whenever he gets like that, try to remember that…it's not about you. August's just…difficult.''I know, Jackson.'Alice came out of my room hauling my suitcase behind her. 'C'mon lazy bums, I am so far behind the schedule that you all should be lucky if you get to eat by midnight.' o~*~*~*~*~*~o I sat in the back seat of the red Porsche while Jackson drove and Alice chattered away about her menu. She had a very elaborate meal planned and I was surprised to hear the amount of minute detailing behind it. Jackson gave me an eye roll over the rear-view mirror once, which Alice caught and then threatened to withhold sex for a week. He did not so much as look in the mirror for the rest of the time.We finally got off the highway and took an exit to one of the suburbs just outside of the city situated on one of the hills. The car winded its way uphill through roads that were lined with high walls and dense trees on both sides. I could only imagine how exclusive the houses must have been when you need walls that high to guard them, and you couldn't even see most of the houses from the road for god's sake.By now I had been to Alice and Jackson's apartment a few times and I was awestruck every single time. The apartment was huge, with 4 bedrooms, a fireplace and a gym. Alice being an interior designer and all, every single detail of the apartment was planned and deliberate. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen and I had a hard time imagining that people could live in better looking places. However, looking around the neighborhood that they had brought me to now, I had a feeling I would soon change my mind. I realized within the next fifteen minutes what an enormous understatement that was.We finally turned into a narrow one lane road that was lined with heavy shrubbery on both sides. Between Alice and Jackson's shoulders, through the front windshield of the Porsche, I saw that the road we were on came to a dead-end a few feet ahead of us and at the end was a black wrought iron gate that was probably more expensive than my parents' house in Jacksonville. The iron was intricately designed with shapes of leaves and vines running between the bars. Jackson pulled up in front of the gate and rolled down his window to punch in a few numbers into the security panel on his side of the road. The gate started to swing open and he drove inside.The road continued on the other side of the gate and Jackson picked up speed once again. We drove for another minute on this road that was flanked off on the left hand side by large open space covered in luscious grass and on the right by a forest that started a few feet off the road. I looked ahead once again to see what exactly we were driving towards and try to come up with some reason as to why a forest area would be cut off from people by iron gates that were code protected.I got my answer pretty soon. The road abruptly turned left ahead of us and was now covered by overgrown bushes on both sides that almost touched on the top and created a sort of tunnel for the car to drive through. The leaves overhead cut off the sunlight and it suddenly became quite dark inside the 'tunnel', accentuating the bright sunlight that lay at the end of it.I gasped when we emerged from the tunnel. There was a humongous fountain in brownish pink marble directly ahead of us. The statues in the fountain were large enough so I couldn't even see their heads from inside the car. Water sprinkled out in all kinds of ways from different parts of the fountain and sparkled in the sunlight.But it wasn't the fountain that had made me gasp. It was the palace like structure that the fountain lay in front of that had knocked the air out of me. It was the same color as the fountain, with large beams in the front that framed the enormous wooden door at the entrance and the balcony on top. The railings of the balcony matched the iron gates from earlier.I sighed when I considered that this is where these people lived. This was not what I had imagined. A kind of 'house' that I couldn't believe existed in LA, the likes of which I had never even seen on TV. And that's saying a lot for someone who has a deep love for architecture and watches hours of Grand Designs on TV. No wonder August Borne was arrogant. I would be too if I had grown up in a place like this.The road split up into a circle at the end of the tunnel and transformed into a sandy-gravel covered driveway that formed a circle around the fountain. Jackson drove around the fountain and came to a stop in front of the main entrance.Alice quickly ushered me inside, mumbling about already having lost a few hours of dinner preparation while Jackson drove on to park the car. I barely got a chance to appreciate the intricately designed wood of the heavy front double door, the huge brass handles, the way the doorway was arched at the top.I stood in the foyer with my head turned upwards to appreciate the high ceiling and the large crystal chandelier that hung from the top of the second floor. The spiral staircase with black iron railings contrasted the white interiors perfectly. I took in the utter beauty of the place in which I was standing, and realized that this was, in fact, the most extravagant home I had ever stepped foot in. What was weird though, was that I wasn't the least bit intimidated to be here. I had expected to start hyperventilating when we came within a hundred meters of the house but nothing of the sort had happened. And I knew the reason for that. Every single aspect of this house, regardless of how extravagant, had been designed with an endless amount of love. I could almost feel the eyes that had picked out the black and white pictures that hung in random order on the wall of the staircase, or the hands that had lovingly touched the beige curtains that covered the enormous windows. I felt a sting of tears burning my eyes and closed them immediately and begged myself to get a grip.'Oh, you guys are here!' I heard a voice I didn't recognize and willed myself to act normal as I turned. A man in his fifties with blond hair emerged from the kitchen. As his eyes fell on me they went wide and he abruptly came to a stop in the far end of the foyer.'Cameron, this is CharlotteNovak.' Jackson came up behind me and cleared his throat before introducing me. The blond man, Cameron Borne, stood motionless in front of me and did not so much as blink. I got uncomfortable under his stare so broke his gaze to look elsewhere. This seemed to help and his earlier expression was replaced with a more polite one.'Of course. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Novak.' He walked across the foyer to where I stood and extended his hand.'It's nice to meet you too Mr. Borne. Please call me Charlotte.' I shook his hand.'Charlotte.' He gave me a small smile as he continued. 'Call me Cameron.' He held on to my hand and looked at me for a few moments before he let it go.'Are you guys going to come help me willingly or do I have to drag you in here?' Alice called out from the kitchen.Jackson then led me into the kitchen and Cameron followed. I held back an audible gasp as I took in the size of the enormous kitchen where Alice was now running from one part to the other in a whirlwind preparing what I assume to be dinner.'Cameron, I said I wanted lumps in the mashed potatoes!' Alice said without so much as looking behind her.'Alice, darling, I really tried to stick to all your instructions but there were so many and I kind of lost track after a while…''It's alright, it's alright. Just get working now so we get done on time. And you!...' she turned towards Jackson and pointed a ladle at him – 'Get cracking on the salad right now.'I was quite amused at the authority that this tiny little woman held over these two men. And I noticed all the love in their eyes that they reflected back at her as they nodded at her.It didn't escape my notice that she had earlier claimed that it was them who made her slave away. The speed with which the guys got to work made me realize the utter fallacy of that claim.Jackson immediately got cracking on some lettuce while Cameron went up to the fridge and turned towards me.'What would you like to drink Charlotte?''Um…just some water please.' Cameron handed me a glass of chilled sparkling water. I sipped it and took a seat on one of the barstools by the kitchen island as the three of them then resumed to chopping and frying and peeling.I ran my hand on top of the black marble counter on the kitchen island that matched the floor. It was cool and smooth and absolutely beautiful. I looked at the enormous cupboards in frosted glass and the stainless steel ultramodern appliances. Then my eyes turned to the French doors on the other end of the kitchen that led to the eternity pool outside that looked like it merged with the view of the ocean beyond.'You have a beautiful home Cameron. Thank you so much for inviting me to your thanksgiving.' I tried to put in as much honesty as I could muster to show him my appreciation of not having to eat alone on thanksgiving.Cameron moved his chopping board to the island on the side opposite to me and glanced up at me between slicing onions.He gave me a quick smile.'Thank you for being with us Charlotte.' Then he looked sideways at Alice and raised an eyebrow. 'Although, I would have to say that's quite a loose interpretation of the term invite, seeing as you were more or less kidnapped into being here.'Alice rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.'Oh for the love of god Cameron, I did not kidnap the girl. I merely used my powers of persuasion.' She turned towards me and winked.'And besides, Charlottewould otherwise be having dinner on her own. We have to be better than the company of the furniture in her apartment, right?'I gave her a genuine smile. She knew how I felt.'That's true. No one should be alone on thanksgiving. It's a shame you are stuck so far away from your parents, Charlotte. So, where did you say you were from?' He didn't look up from his cutting board while he spoke.'Um, well I moved to Seattle a year ago.''I see. Where did you live before that?''I went to school at Georgia State.''Oh, and did you go to high school there too?' He threw me a quick look.'No. I went to high school in Jacksonville.'He stopped chopping and nodded without looking at me. Then he took a deep breath and smiled at me warmly before continuing.'Anyways, there is no need to thank me. Charlotte, I can't thank you enough for taking care of my boys in Seattle. Jackson warned me to not bother you too much with my gratitude. But he is as much of a son to me as August is, and a father cannot help feeling grateful towards the hands that heal his son.''Cameron, at least give the girl some time to settle in before laying on the mush,' Jackson rolled his eyes.'No need to thank me, Cameron. I got much more out of it than I gave.' I smiled and winked at Jackson.Cameron caught our exchange and smiled fondly. 'I can see that. It seems that my children have taken quite a liking to you.' He wrapped his hand around Alice's shoulder and put a small kiss on her head.'Yeah, well not all your kids.' Alice grumbled as she tasted the sauce she was stirring.'What do you mean?' Cameron looked between her and me questioningly. I wanted to smack Alice.'Your youngest has been scaring Charlotteto death with his monster-like tendencies. It's a miracle we were able to drag her here today.'Cameron looked quickly at Jackson. 'August misbehaved with Charlotte? Why haven't you told me this before?''Oh, please. Don't act surprised. Who does he not misbehave with. And besides, what good would telling you have done? It's not like you ever say anything to the little brat anyways. I keep telling you Cameron, if you weren't so lenient on him maybe he would take that stick out of his…''Alice,' Jackson warned.Cameron sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'I apologize for any rude behavior August has shown towards you Charlotte. I am very sorry on my son's behalf.''Cameron, please. Don't apologize to me. It's not a big deal. And it really wasn't that bad.''Not that bad! Charlotte, that idiot said…''Alice!' Jackson and I yelled in unison. I turned quickly toward Cameron who now had an agitated look on his face.'Please don't listen to Alice. It really is alright. I am very glad to be here and to have the opportunity to meet you Cameron. I would really like to just enjoy my time with all of you today.' I threw a dirty glance at Alice who just ignored me.Cameron nodded and brought his chopped vegetables to Alice. The mood in the kitchen had now turned somber and he excused himself after a few minutes and left us by ourselves.Alice and Jackson kept throwing glances at each other and having some sort of a cryptic conversation through their eyes. I decided to give them some privacy and asked if it was alright if I looked around the garden outside. They told me to explore as much as I wanted and I went out and gazed at the ocean for a few minutes before starting to look around the beautifully landscaped garden.I was running a finger through the petals of a forget-me-not when I heard a high pitched shriek behind me and turned around. Then I saw a small blur of yellow dash towards me and smack against my legs. From where I stood I saw a head full of brown hair that barely came up to my knees. And two small arms were encircled around my legs and squeezing me with all their strength.Then the blur turned its head up and I saw a pair of brown eyes looking up at me.'Hide me.'Then the face was back to being pressed on my legs, eyes hidden from my view again.'Um…from who?' I looked up to the direction the tiny girl had come running from to see if there happened to be an axe murderer chasing her or something.No answer.I bent down my head a little to the side to try to see her face but it was burrowing further into my legs if possible.'Are you ok?'She shook her head from side to side. So, no.'What's wrong?' I ventured again.'He's chasing me.''Who is?'She unclasped one arm from around me and pointed in the general direction behind her but said nothing.'I don't see anyone,' I said.'You can't see him because he's small.'Ok, that was good. How dangerous could a small thing really be, right?The tiny girl stayed put in her position and made no more movement or sound. I realized I would have to take things in my own hands or there was a good chance her form would soon start to fuse to mine. She was getting quite comfortable where she was.So I bent forward and put my hands lightly on her arms and pried them lose from around my legs. Then I squatted down to get eye level with her.'Look, don't be scared. I'll protect us from whoever is chasing you, ok?'She gave me a small nod.'Now tell me who was chasing you.''The butterfly.''Oh!' Well that was a relief. I visibly relaxed but then I saw that the girl was just as terrified as before.'You are scared of butterflies?''No. He was a mean one. I saw him sitting on the plant and wanted to say hi. But then he jumped and sat on my nose.' She pointed at the nose in question.I decided to humor her and put on an annoyed expression. 'Well, that wasn't nice of him at all. Maybe we can go back and talk some manners into him?'She looked unsure.'Hey, I promised I'd protect us both right?' Her smiled now and nodded. I held out my hand for her to take.'Now let's go show this butterfly who's boss around here.'She looked at my hand for a moment like it was a death trap of something. I gave it a little shake to urge her on and then suddenly she took my hand and started to lead the way to the said monster butterfly.Once we came to the shrub where she claimed the butterfly had been, it was nowhere to be found. We walked around the garden a little looking for it, but finally the little girl said she was done looking and wanted to go back to the house. She took my hand again and we walked back to the direction we had come from.When we were almost in the house again, Cameron came out through the French doors and when his eyes fells on us he looked almost shocked.'Grandpa! Look I found a fairy!' The tiny girl shrieked and started tugging me towards where Cameron stood. Grandpa? And wait, what? Fairy?When we were a few feet away from Cameron she let go of my hand and ran to him. He picked her up before she could smash into his legs too. Ah, that's what you're supposed to do about that.Cameron opened his mouth to say something but she beat him to it.'We need to get her a dress though.' She wrinkled her nose.'Hey, first of all, not all fairies need to have a dress. And secondly, I never said I was a fairy.' I looked at Cameron and smiled.The kid gave me this look that said she didn't believe me for a second.Cameron cleared his throat. 'I didn't realize you two had met already.' He looked between the girl and me.'Oh, we didn't really. There was a mean butterfly situation out in the yard that needed a third person perspective and I happened to be there.'Cameron gave me a tight smile then turned his look back to the girl in his arms. 'You need to get inside and wash up before dinner, little one. Aunt Alice is going to have both of our heads if you bring all that dirt to the kitchen.'Then he started to carry her into the house.'Hey!' I smiled when they turned their heads towards me. 'You never told me your name.''You haven't told the fairy your name darling?'She shook her head from side to side. I walked up to them.'What's your name?''Princesse Sophie,' she said in a perfect French accent. It confused me a little since she had been speaking in a perfect American accent all this time.I held out my hand to her.'My name is Charlotte.''Charl …Charl?' she asked. I nodded and smiled at her apparent difficulty in pronouncing my name.'Charrr Charlotte….. Charlotte,' she said while she timidly put her hand in mine. I felt a twinge in my heart at hearing her call me that. Cameron looked at our connected hands with a surprised expression again.'You can call me Charlie if you like. My best friend used to call me that.'She smiled a wide smile now.'Hi Charlie.' I smiled back at the little kid wrapped in yellow.'Hi Sophie.'


End file.
